“You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Luke 12:40

September is National Preparedness month and the ten year anniversary of 9/11. It is a good time to consider how you, those you care for, and your congregation are prepared for the next disaster or emergency. Disasters are seldom predictable. Just as we are to be ready for the coming of the Son of man, we need to also be ready and prepared for disasters and other unexpected emergencies. Emergencies will happen. Taking action will help to minimize the impact on our lives later.

Only 57% of people report that they have readiness items set aside in their homes for use in disaster. Just 34% of people have readiness supplies in their vehicles.  Less than half of households have an Emergency Plan and yet 42% of individuals report that they would need help during a disaster. Even fewer congregations have taken steps to prepare.  Disasters happen every day in many different forms – from hurricanes to snowstorms, even localized events such as floods and power outages.

Many people think that it will be easy to grab items from the pantry if disaster strikes. But what if you aren’t at home? What if your family is separated? What if you have to leave quickly? What about your elderly neighbor? What if the disaster strikes while you are at church?

A Time to Remember, A Time to Prepare is this year’s preparedness month campaign theme. Lutheran Disaster Response has worship resources, for use in remembering our brothers and sisters lost in the 9/11 attacks and for supporting all those remembering. Prayers, litanies, sermon helps and hymn suggestions to use in planning your worship are included.

Preparedness is everyone’s responsibility. Be prepared to take care of yourself and those you love and care about for up to the first 72 hours following a disaster! Three easy steps are needed:

• Get a Kit:  Keep enough emergency supplies on hand for you and those in your care – water, non-perishable food, first aid, prescriptions, flashlight, a battery-powered radio.  A list is available at www.ready.gov.
• Make a Plan: Discuss, agree on, and document an emergency plan for your family.  Work with neighbors, colleagues, and others to build community resilience.  
  • Make a Plan for your congregation!  How can your congregation help in disaster preparedness & response?  Hold a Preparedness Potluck.  Invite your local Red Cross to present preparedness tips.  Implement a plan to check on home-bound members in the event of a power outage or winter snow storm.  Assemble a congregational preparedness kit.  Get involved in your Conference’s LDR Response Team.  A Congregation Preparedness Guide is available on the synod website to help you begin.
• Be Informed:  Learn about potential disasters and emergencies in your community.  Contact local emergency response agencies like the fire service, county emergency management and the Red Cross for information.  Visit www.ready.gov for plan, kit and information helps.

O Lord, when the waters rage and foam,

Still the storms and grant us your peace.

When the gift of creation becomes burden,

Still the storms and grant us your peace.

When our fears threaten to overtake us,

Still the storms and grant us your peace.

Speak your word to the wind and to the water,

Fill us with faith.

Show us your care in the service of others,

Fill us with compassion.

Make the joy of your peace overflow in our lives,

Fill us with hope.*

* © Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, disaster worship resources.  Permission is granted to reproduce this material for local, non-sale use only.

June 30, 2011

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

Flood waters have consumed the city of Minot, N.D., affecting more than 4,000 homes, countless businesses and at least three ELCA church buildings. Flood waters have already passed record levels set back in 1881 and are expected to remain for weeks.

Flooding is evident elsewhere in the Midwest where communities along the Missouri River are fighting unprecedented high water. From Montana, through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, levees are straining against strong pressure from upstream water. Residents are doing their best to prepare for the worst. It is likely that flood concerns will persist throughout the summer.

Our church is already at work in these places. Through ELCA congregations, pastors and Lutheran-affiliated social ministries, we are working together to help serve those most affected.

Local Lutherans have been a beacon of faithfulness. Members of six congregations in Minot gathered last Sunday, June 26, in a borrowed banquet room to worship and join together in community support. Please join me in praying for the people of Minot and all others affected by these floods.

Gifts designated to "U.S. Floods" will be used in full -- 100 percent -- to help disaster survivors clean up, rebuild and recover. Your generous offerings of prayer and financial support will help those affected in Minot and in the Midwest. The ELCA will walk alongside flood survivors as they journey to recover. Thank you!

In service,

The Rev. Daniel Rift

Director, ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal

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Bulletin insert: Floods June 2011

Ways to Give

Check or money orders sent to:

ELCA Disaster Response

39330 Treasury Center

Chicago, IL 60694-9300

Write "U.S. Severe Storms" on your check's memo line.

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Give by phone at 800-638-3522 or online

The first reports of the Japanese earthquake had barely made the media as vivid pictures of the devastation taken by cell phones drove the horror home to us on American soil.  Houses and other buildings crumbled along with the total infrastructure of a highly technological society.  How could emergency workers help?  How were they routed to those in dire need?  Emergency services repeaters (radio stations which receive small signals from emergency vehicles and walkie-talkies and repeat them with more power over a larger area.) were disrupted. Without electrical power internet, land-line phones and yes, even cell phone equipment were rendered useless.  How would needed equipment, supplies and personnel be ordered out and deployed to the many injured, trapped and dying?  The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Director Infrastructure, Emergency Traffic Center immediately responded by asking the JARL (Japanese Amateur Radio League) for communications assistance in the affected area.

Going back to the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, amateur radio operators have done their part by providing communications when all other modes have failed.  More recently Hams, as they are called, restored communications for emergency services in New York City after the Twin Towers collapsed destroying the Emergency Communications Center for that city located on the 21st and 22nd floors of the Trade Center. Repeaters located in other areas were still working and Hams, always at the ready to be creative with electronics, were able to access these systems and restore some measure of emergency communications.  Again, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina amateurs were restoring communications in Louisiana and Mississippi, saving stranded flood victims and helping residents.

The amateur radio service has a long history of setting up equipment at disaster scenes or relaying messages from ravaged areas to secure needed help or simply assuring relatives that a loved one is safe.  The root of the word amateur comes from the Latin word amare which means to love.  Hams are a group of dedicated individuals who love building, setting up radio stations, communicating, and helping others through the technology they have acquired.  Some have elaborate collections of high-tech equipment, others have simple homemade rigs which provide the same communications functions. Some hams enjoy making long distance contacts across the world, while others enjoy short distance modes of communication. The earliest mode of conveying intelligence over a radio signal was simply interrupting a high voltage spark in a series of dots and dashes organized into patterns called a code. The well known Morse code most of us learned in scouts years ago is the common code used today.  This was used when the Titanic sunk. Later on, the human voice could be carried on a radio signal around the world.  Today we use digital modes that send bursts of signals that are received on a computer screen in the form of a typed message (packet, PSK 31, etc) or we can interface our radio to the computer and send messages over the internet or via the internet, access repeaters in other parts of the world and carry on a conversation with the local residents over their ham radios (IRLP, Echolink).

You can see how useful this hobby is with practically unlimited possibilities to serve individuals and communities in times of great need. Most often, Hams are often the silent unsung heroes during an emergency response.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a network of these individuals across the Upstate New York Synod which could be activated to establish communications in times of disaster or urgent need?  They could jump in and resume some functionality to a system rendered useless, to restore the flow of emergency information and to expedite comforting news for persons anxiously awaiting reassurance of the safety of a loved one. If you are a licensed Ham and you would be interested in participating in this project please email N2DJP@yahoo.com.  Hams have a long history of responding in times of serious need.  The rewards for the time spent in helping those in need are heavenly.

Rev. Denis J. Paufler

N2DJP

LDR Leadership Team Member

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

An outbreak of tornadoes tore across the Midwest this weekend, leaving a path of destruction from Texas to Minnesota.

Especially hard-hit is Joplin, Mo., where a powerful tornado leveled parts of the community, killing at least 89 people. Residents say the city is completely unrecognizable.

The building that housed an ELCA congregation has been destroyed, according to its pastor. Please keep the Rev. Bill Pape and the people of Peace Lutheran Church in Joplin in your prayers.

This outbreak is one of several destructive storms this spring. Communities throughout the Midwest and South have also faced widespread damage due to floods and severe storms.

ELCA Disaster Response is already assessing the situation in Joplin and other areas affected by severe storms and flooding. Your gifts are needed to help provide for the immediate and long-term needs of those affected by these disasters.

All of your gifts—100 percent—designated for "U.S. Severe Storms" will be used for emergency and long-term assistance following these storms. Please give generously and continue to pray for those whose lives have been uprooted by this disaster.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Daniel Rift

Director, ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal

P.S. Please help me get the word out. Use this bulletin insert to share this information with your congregation on Sunday morning.